Holder



Dec. 8, 1953 M A RACHO 2,661,748

HOLDER Filed Jan. 14, 1952 Matilda A. Racha INVENTOR.

Patented Dec. 8, 1953 -UNITED STATES PATENT `OFFICE .HOLDER .Matilda A. "Racho, Riverside, 1301111.

#Application Januaryll, 1952,"Serial`Nm26'681 (etica-4s) 2 Claims.

'.This:invention:relatesA generally to 1a holder for hair,.'and more'specicallyto:aholder in the. form of abarrette of ornamental configuration adapted tobe'secured tothehair ofaiperson.

It is a Well known practicetto utilize haireholders such 'as ka conventional barrettefor retaining hair in a desired positionon therhead of theperson. 1W hile the laveragebarrette clamps the hair sufficiently to retain the barrette in place on the hea'dfof aniaverage person, it-fails to perform its desired function .when iutilized on the head of a smallchild. The hair of children is much liner than that .of grownups and therefore muchmore diiiicult to clamp. Furthermore, the small child has a tendency .to attempt `to pull the barrette from.,his-or her hair, either because it annoys her or becauseshe is curious to vsee `what .is on :her head. .The .barrettes now readily'obtainable :are defective in that they do not suniciently grip the hair of a small child to prevent their removal by the child, and those barrettes which are provided with decorative plastic members do not have clamping elements properly secured thereto.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved barrette for holding hair in place, said barrette having a clasp structure which tightly clamps hair to prevent removal of the barrette from the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved barrette which includes a decorative molded plastic member having a clasp member tightly secured thereto.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved barrette for holding hair in place which has integral molded means for attaching a decorative ribbon thereto.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved barrette for holding hair in place which has a spring clasp member for engagement with hair, said clasp member having a short section of`rubber tubing slidably received thereon for frictionally engaging hair clamped by the spring clasp.

With these objects deiinitely in vi-ew, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specication, particularly as pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the under side of the barrette, which is the subject of this invention, and showing the specic structure of the clasp member;

Eigure g2 .is `an-en'larged .fragmentary ltop plan View of the :barrette of 'lFigure land. showing the manner-1in which :a :decorative ribbon is'secured to the barrette Figure. 3 'is :anfenlarged transverse vertical .sectionaltviewtaken. substantially upon the plane iindicated .by the .section line 3 3 of Figure 2 and showing the manner in Awhich the vbarrette is .clamped to .the head o'f aperson; and,

v.Figure ".4 isa perspective viewof afs'hort 'length of rubber'tubingpriorfto its. assemblyA on the clasp membcrof the barrettel ofFigurel.

vSimilarcharactersof reference designatesimilar or identical elements and portions throughout the specication "and throughout fthe Idifferent views of the drawings.

Referring now tothe drawings indetail, lthis invention includ-esa decorative member i6 formed oi molded plastic which has secured thereto a clasp member l2.

The clasp member i2 is made of spring metal or other suitable material, preferably in one piece, bent to form an upper arm i4, a catch or keeper i 6, and a lower central arm portion I8, which 'arm has upwardly and outwardly bent portions 26 and 22 at opposite ends thereof. The arm Ill is connected to the central arm portion i8 by a curved U-shaped loop portion 24 which is integral with and continues as an extension to the end portion 22.

The arm i4 constitutes the spring arm of the clasp i2 and in its closed position is engaged with the keeper i6 and the clasp l2 is secured` to the decorative member IG by having its central arm portion l embedded within the decorative member l as is clearly shown in Figure 3. Since the arm i4 is preferably made of spring metal and the decorative member Ill is formed of a smooth plastic, it is obvious that while the arm i4 will resiliently clamp hair against the under side of the decorative member I D, the smooth surface of the met-a1 spring arm i4 will not offer suiiicient resistance to prevent sliding of the barrette oir of the hair.

In order to prevent the sliding of the barrette off of the hair on which it is engaged, the spring arm i4 is provided with a tubular sleeve member 2S which is preferably formed of rubber or some other resilient material having a high coefficient of friction. It will be readily apparent that the use of a rubber sleeve member for engaging the hair and clamping the same against the under side of the decorative member lil, as illustrated in Figure 3, will render the barrette more difficult to remove from the hair by a sliding movement.

While the sleeve member 2E has been illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 as being a rectangular crosssectional sleeve member, it is pointed out that the sleeve is really a short section of conventional tubing having a circular cross-section as illustrated in Figure 4.

While the decorative member l0 may be of any ornamental design, the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the drawings, is to make the decorative member l0 substantially plain and have integrally molded therewith on its upper side a loop 28. As will be seen in Figure 3, the upper surface of the decorative member i0 is also recessed directly beneath the loop 28 so as to provide in combination with the loop 28 an oval-shaped opening 30. Removably secured within the opening 30 is a decorative ribbon 32 which may be easily removed therefrom for purposes of cleaning. It may also be desirable to remove the ribbon 32 and replace it with another ribbon of a different color so as to change the appearance o the barrettev The manner in which this barrette is attached to the hair of a person Will be readily understood from the foregoing description of the details thereof, taken in connection with the above recited objects and drawings. Further description would appear to be unnecessary.

Minor modifications of the barrette, varying in minor details from the embodiment of the barrette illustrated and described may be resorted to Without departure from the spirit and the scope of this invention, as dened in the appended claims.

Having described the claimed as new is:

1. A hair fastener comprising a molded decorative plastic member, a spring clasp of oneinvention, what is piece construction having a central portion thereof embedded with said member, said spring clasp having a clamping leg and a hook portion for retaining said clamping leg in a position whereby hair may be resiliently clamped against the under side of said member, the upper side of said member being provided With an integral mold loop adapted to have passed therethrough a decorative ribbon for securement to said member.

2. A hair fastener comprising a molded decorative plastic member, a spring clasp of oneF piece construction having a central portion thereof embedded With said member, said spring clasp having a clamping leg and a hook portion forA retaining said clamping leg in a position whereby hair may be resiliently clamped against the under side of said member, said clamping leg being provided with a section of rubber tubing slidably received thereon and. resiliently clamping the same, said rubber tubing being adapted to frictionably grip hair disposed between said clamping leg and the underside of said member, the upper side of said member being provided With an integral mold loop adapted to have a decorative ribbon passed therethrough for securement to said member.

MATILDA A. RACHO.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,262,060 Solomon Nov. 11, 1941 FORETGN PATENTS Number Country Date 570,207 France Apr. 25, 1924 597,311 France Aug. 28, 1925 

